Guilt-Free Garlic Parmesan Zucchini Noodles Pasta Recipe

How to make our20-minute zucchini noodle pasta recipe with garlic, tomatoes, basil, and parmesan cheese. Jump to the Zucchini Noodles Pasta Recipe or watch our quick recipe video showing you how we make it.

We are in love with this easy recipe. There’s fresh zucchini, tomatoes, basil, parmesan, and lots of garlic. The best part? It only takes 20 minutes to make. By the way, if you are looking for more vegetable noodle recipes, take a look at this Creamy Avocado Lime Sweet Potato Noodles recipe.

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Guilt-Free, 20 Minute Zucchini Pasta

This is such a quick and easy recipe. It’s adaptable, too. We love this with 100% zucchini noodles, but a combination of spaghetti and zucchini is great.

This pasta recipe is all about fresh ingredients. The zucchini should be firm and the tomatoes sweet. If you have a hard time finding good, flavorful tomatoes, it is better to use canned. We love canned San Marzano tomatoes as well as the options from Muir Glen.

How to Cook Them

Zucchini is mostly made up of water so cooking it can be tricky. Here are our tips for cooking it well.

Don’t peel the zucchini. Peeled zucchini noodles are mushy and have little crunch. Plus, it adds a step and we’re looking for dinner on the table fast.

Don’t salt the zucchini ahead or time or while it cooks in the pan. Salt draws out water from the zucchini. This will make it less crunchy when it’s cooked. Since salt makes things taste good, we prefer to salt the sauce and not the zucchini.

Don’t overcook. The noodles should be cooked to al dente (just like pasta). This means they will look wilted, but still have a crunch.

Since zucchini has a tendency to become watery, we do our best to reduce this as much as possible in our recipe. Even so, you will still find some water left at the bottom of the serving bowl. This is okay with us. The liquid mixes with tomato, garlic, cheese, and olive oil, so it’s delicious. By the way, if you are looking for more ways to use up zucchini, here’s our parmesan basil zucchini chips recipe for you. They are addictive.

Guilt-Free Garlic Parmesan Zucchini Noodles Pasta Recipe

PREP 8mins

COOK 12mins

TOTAL 20mins

We’re in love with this easy zucchini pasta recipe. There’s fresh zucchini, tomatoes, basil, parmesan, and lots of garlic. Plus, it only takes 20 minutes to make. Make this with 100% zucchini noodles or swap half of the zucchini for regular spaghetti for a heartier meal.

Makes 4 Servings

You Will Need

4 medium zucchini (about 2 pounds)

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 to 4 cloves)

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, depending on how spicy you like the pasta

2 medium tomatoes, chopped, see note (about 12 ounces)

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

1 cup basil leaves, torn into pieces

1 teaspoon cornstarch

2 teaspoons cold water

Salt, to taste

Directions

Prepare Noodles

Trim and spiralize the zucchini (see notes below for how to do this without a spiralizer). Cut extra long noodles so that they are about the length of spaghetti.

Add olive oil, garlic, and the red pepper flakes to a large, deep skillet. Turn to medium heat. When the oil begins to bubble around the garlic, add the zucchini noodles. Toss the noodles with pasta tongs and cook until al dente — they should be wilted, but still have a crunch; 5 to 7 minutes. Do not let the noodles cook any longer or else they will become mushy. As they cook, keep tossing so that all the zucchini noodles have a chance to hit the bottom of the skillet.

Stir in the tomatoes, basil, and parmesan cheese. Cook for one minute.

Use pasta tongs to transfer the noodles, tomatoes, and basil to a serving dish. Leave the liquid in the skillet.

To Finish

Bring the liquid to a simmer. Combine cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl then whisk into the simmering liquid. Cook, while whisking, until the liquid thickens to a sauce; about 1 minute. Taste the sauce and season with salt.

Pour the sauce over the zucchini, tomatoes, and basil. Finish with more parmesan cheese on top and serve immediately.

Adam and Joanne's Tips

How to make Zucchini Noodles without a Spiralizer: The spiralizer is not the only way to make noodles. You can use a julienne vegetable peeler or a mandoline. You can also use a standard vegetable peeler to make wide noodles or ribbons.

Don’t be surprised if after the pasta has been sitting, liquid collects at the bottom of the serving dish. This is okay with us. The liquid mixes with tomato, garlic, cheese, and olive oil, so it’s delicious.

Nutrition Facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA Supertracker recipe calculator to calculate approximate values. We omitted salt from the calculations since you will need to add to your tastes.

If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste

I rarely make comments for posted recipes. However, this was truly scrumptious. I could easily have eaten nearly the entire recipe singlehandedly but used some will power and saved half for tomorrow. Yum-o!

I made this for dinner tonight. It was the very first “zoodle” recipe I’ve ever tried, and let me tell you I am hooked! I was skeptical about using zucchini as a substitute for pasta noodles (this girl loves her some carbs), but it was absolutely delicious. I topped it with some homemade vegetarian “meat” balls and it made for a perfect meal.

This is amazing, i roast yellow and red bell peppers and whole garlic while I’m “zoodling” peel them when cool, chop peppers,throw in roasted garlic and OMG! Fresh torn basil, etc. just had shrimp or chicken if protein is need.

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